Welcome back to Week in Review! We’ve got lots of news for you today: Amazon earnings, Apple earnings, ChatGPT sycophancy, Alibaba’s AI models, and much more. Let’s get to it!
Well? During Apple’s earnings call yesterday, Tim Cook revealed that the company paid $900 million in tariffs last quarter. But despite this, the CEO didn’t announce any price increases — yet.
Big bucks: Defense tech startup Mach Industries, which was founded by 21-year-old Ethan Thornton, is about to close a fresh $100 million in financing, sources told TechCrunch. This new funding should bring the startup’s total funding to about $185 million to date.
More models: Alibaba announced this week that it’s releasing a family of AI models, called Qwen3, that it claims can outperform OpenAI and Google. According to Alibaba, the Qwen3 models are “hybrid” models, and they’re not yet available for download.
This is TechCrunch’s Week in Review, where we recap the week’s biggest news. Want this delivered as a newsletter to your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here.
News
Shoot for the stars: Amazon’s effort to create a space-based internet network began in earnest this week: The company fired off its first 27 internet satellites on Tuesday. The first half of the network needs to be deployed by mid-2026 to meet the FCC deadline.
AI in your pocket: Meta is rolling out a stand-alone AI app, which it unveiled at the company’s first LlamaCon event on Tuesday. The app allows users to access Meta AI in an app, similar to the ChatGPT app and other AI assistant apps.
Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
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Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you’ve built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last.
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Blocked: A judge in India blocked the encrypted email provider Proton Mail across the country. This was in response to a legal complaint filed by New Delhi-based M Moser Design Associates, which alleged that its employees had received emails containing obscene and vulgar content sent via Proton Mail.
Cheaters never win: Cluely went viral recently for its bold claim of helping people cheat on everything. But some startups are claiming they can catch Cluely’s users.
Alexa+: Amazon’s new digital assistant aims to let users talk with it in a more natural style and eventually have agentic abilities that allow it to use third-party apps on a user’s behalf. During Amazon’s earnings call this week, CEO Andy Jassy says that 100,000 users now have Alexa+.
AI where it matters: Airbnb seems to be taking a more measured approach with AI. It started rolling out an AI-powered customer service bot in the U.S. last month. CEO Brian Chesky said in February that the company would use AI for customer service before it started implementing it for other uses like travel planning or booking tickets.
Epic ruling: Epic Games has notched a win in an ongoing legal dispute with Apple. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said in a ruling that Apple was in “willful violation” of a 2021 injunction that prohibited the company from imposing anticompetitive pricing. As a result, Fortnite could be back on iPhones as soon as next week.
LOL: Following the Epic Games ruling, Stripe shared documentation that shows iOS developers how to avoid the Apple commission.
Check your settings: Meta emailed Ray-Ban Meta owners on Tuesday with a notice that AI features will now be enabled on the glasses by default. This means Meta’s AI will analyze photos and videos taken with the glasses while certain AI features are switched on.
Yikes! OpenAI said it was “rolling back” the latest update to the default AI model powering ChatGPT, GPT-4o, after complaints about strange behavior, in particular it being overly agreeable and validating. According to OpenAI, the update, which was intended to make the model’s default personality “feel more intuitive and effective,” was informed too much by “short-term feedback.” Now the company pledges to make changes that would prevent this from happening in the future.
Before you go
Oh the drama: We read through the 80-page Epic v. Apple decision to pull out the judge’s juiciest, fieriest comments. Here’s one to get you started: “Apple engaged in tactics to delay the proceedings. The Court later concluded that delay equaled profits.”